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Una colección de egagrópilas (restos de alimento de ave regurgitados) fosilizadas en Utah sugiere que cuando la Tierra pasó por un período de rápido calentamiento hace unos 13,000 años, la comunidad de mamíferos pequeños era estable y resistente y, como especies individuales, cambiaban junto con el hábitat y el paisaje.

Por el contrario, los cambios de origen humano en el medio ambiente desde finales de 1800, han causado una enorme caída en la biomasa y el “flujo de energía” en esta misma comunidad, informaron los investigadores hoy en las Actas de la Academia Nacional de Ciencias.

One byproduct of rising carbon-dioxide levels is increasing ocean acidity — a phenomenon that scientists have termed an existential threat to marine life. The waters of the Arctic and the far-north Pacific are particularly prone to acidification as a result of several natural factors, so scientists regard the region as the proverbial canary in the coal mine for the rest of the world's oceans. A new study shows that within just fifteen years these waters may be too acidic for a range of marine animals to build and maintain their shells year round. 

Using his authority under the Antiquities Act of 1906, President Obama announced last week that he was creating three new national monuments. The President designated scenic mountains in California as Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument, pristine wilderness landscapes in Nevada as Basin and Range National Monument, and a fossil-rich site in Texas as Waco Mammoth National Monument.

Together, the new monuments protect more than one million acres of public lands. National monuments are similar to national parks, except that they can be created from any land owned or controlled by the federal government via a presidential proclamation. With these new designations, Obama will have used the Antiquities Act to establish or expand 19 national monuments in the United States in total. Altogether, he has protected more than 260 million acres of public lands and waters.

The French Senate has called for new efforts to tackle air pollution, arguing it inflates healthcare costs, reduces economic productivity and agricultural yields, and has put Paris in the EU's bad books.

A Committee of Inquiry in the French Senate has described air pollution as an "economic aberration". The committee's proposals to reduce the phenomenon, which costs France over €100 billion every year, include raising the tax on diesel and taxing emissions of the worst polluting substances.

In the report entitled "Air pollution: the cost of inaction", published on Wednesday 15 July, the Senate committee estimated the annual cost of air Pollution in France at €101.3 billion.

Globalmente los viajes por aire contribuyen con cerca del 3.5 por ciento del efecto invernadero aportando parte del cambio climático antropogénico, según el Grupo Intergubernamental de Expertos sobre el Cambio Climático (IPCC). Pero, ¿qué impacto tiene el calentamiento del planeta sobre el transporte aéreo y cómo podría eso, a su vez, afectar la tasa de calentamiento en sí?

Un nuevo estudio realizado por investigadores de la Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution y de la Universidad de Wisconsin en Madison, encontró una relación entre el clima y los tiempos en los...